Michael Grace Phipps (January 10, 1910 – March 13, 1973) was an American businessman, champion polo player, owner/breeder of racehorses, and a

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...

Biography

Michael Phipps was the son of

John Shaffer Phipps John Shaffer Phipps (August 11, 1874 – May 12, 1958) was an American lawyer and businessman who was an heir to the Phipps family fortune and a shareholder of his father-in-law's Grace Shipping Lines. He was a director of the Hanover Bank, ...

and Margarita Celia Grace, daughter of Michael P. Grace. He was a member of the

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

intercollegiate championship team in both 1930 and 1932. He participated in the 1936 and 1939 International Polo Cup. A member of the

Meadowbrook Polo Club The Meadowbrook Polo Club (originally styled as the "Meadow Brook Club"), located in Old Westbury, New York, is the oldest continuously operating polo club in the United States, first established in 1881.Marie, Kim (August 27, 201The Power of The ...

on Long Island, New York, in 1938 he was elevated to a Ten Goal ranking, the highest level achievable in polo. On March 17, 1994 he was posthumously elected to the Museum of Polo and Hall of Fame.

Education and business career

Michael Phipps studied at

St. Bernard's School St. Bernard's School, founded in 1904 by John Card Jenkins,www.stbernards.org
- the school's website

and St. Paul's School before going on to

. Phipps became a successful investor and would serve as a vice president of his family's Bessemer Securities Corporation and sit on the board of directors of W. R. Grace and Company, a company owned by his maternal grandfather's family.

Thoroughbred racing

Several members of the Phipps family were involved in horse racing. Most notably from the same era as Michael Phipps was his brother Hubert, a cousin Ogden, as well as his uncle

Henry Carnegie Phipps Henry Carnegie Phipps (May 11, 1879 – March 21, 1953) was an American sportsman and financier, the owner of Wheatley Stable along with his wife Gladys Mills Phipps, and a member of the wealthy Phipps family. Early life Phipps was born on May 1 ...

whose wife was a partner in the renowned Wheatley Stable. On the death of his father, Michaell Phipps purchased his stable of horses from the Estate. Some of the successful Thoroughbreds owned and raced by Michael Phipps were Raja Baba and

Gentleman James A gentleman (Old French: ''gentilz hom'', gentle + man) is any man of good and courteous conduct. Originally, ''gentleman'' was the lowest rank of the landed gentry of England, ranking below an esquire and above a yeoman; by definition, the ra ...

. Michael Phipps served on the board of directors of Hialeah Park Race Track.Palm Beach Post - March 15, 1973
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Phipps, Michael Grace 1910 births 1973 deaths Yale University alumni Businesspeople from New York (state) American polo players International Polo Cup American racehorse owners and breeders Philanthropists from New York (state) Phipps family Place of birth missing People from Old Westbury, New York People from Palm Beach, Florida 20th-century American businesspeople St. Bernard's School alumni 20th-century American philanthropists